More than two decades have passed since Ole Miss defensive back Chucky Mullins suffered a crushing injury on the field of play, putting an abrupt end to his football career and, less than two years after the injury, his life.

Mullins’ fate may have faded from the local collective conscious, but reminders of the inherent danger of athletic competition have persisted, manifesting themselves of late in even more grim fashion: suicides.

From Junior Seau, the legendary San Diego Chargers linebacker who committed suicide in May 2012, to Jovan Belcher, the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker who killed his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself in December 2012, the visibility of these and other eerily similar cases have been almost inescapable.

Indeed, “the concussion question” looms large, and local medical professionals have stepped onto the front lines of the battle to answer that question.

“We’re probably at the tip of the iceberg about what we know about concussions,” says Frederick Azar, chief of staff at Campbell Clinic and team physician to the Memphis Grizzlies and the athletics programs at Christian Brothers University and the University of Memphis. “What’s raised awareness is what’s happened with NFL players.”

Athletes in other sports have also been included in the debate, but a consideration just as important as what already has happened is what could happen in the future.

In April, attorneys representing two sides of a related battle — the one between the National Football League and more than 4,000 former players who allege the league didn’t do enough to inform them about concussions and related complications — will meet before a judge in federal court. How that case is decided could have massive implications for sports at every level, but already, advocacy efforts have been galvanized in Memphis’ own backyard.

Local neurology professionals Brandon Baughman and Paul Klimo at Semmes-Murphey Neurologic & Spine Institute have been working with a group at the University of Memphis to study concussions and subsequent evaluation.

Klimo, a pediatric neurosurgeon who is also chief of the division of pediatric neurosurgery at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, has also addressed state legislators who are considering a bill — SB882, which has the support of the NFL, the Tennessee Medical Association, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletics Association and the Tennessee Athletic Trainers Society — to explicitly address traumatic brain injury.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Tennessee is one of only eight states in the U.S. that has not enacted legislation targeting youth sports-related concussion. But Klimo says the visibility of cases like those emanating from the NFL has helped elucidate the importance of the issue, garnering support along the way.

“It’s gotten so much publicity that parents, trainers and coaches are much more in tune and vigilant about it,” he says. “Therefore, they are more likely to bring their kid into the clinic. That’s exactly what we want them to do.”

As Campbell Clinic’s Azar notes, there is much still to be learned about concussions and associated long-term effects. But with legislation on the table and indications that this year’s bill has muster to pass, things appear to be moving in the right direction.

Challenges persist, however.

Baughman, a clinical neuropsychologist at Semmes-Murphey, says there is little empirical literature about how best to manage concussions, so much of what is being done in terms of research is somewhat exploratory.

Another issue deals with a less complex, but equally daunting, concern: manpower.

“I don’t know if I’d say the educational component gets overlooked if there’s just not enough people to do it,” Baughman says. “If you consider Memphis City Schools, for example, there’s something like 10,000 athletes. How much education is being given to these coaches, parents, athletes and trainers? I think anyone involved should have some education.”

Although budgetary constraints present yet another challenge, Baughman says there have been efforts among private schools to establish a concussion protocol for student-athletes. And, thanks to the visibility of the issue in the national media, Baughman is optimistic that advocacy efforts by him and his peers will continue to bear fruit.

In the past two years, he reports having seen a “significant” increase in the volume of concussion referrals he sees; he has also been approached by local private schools to assist in developing a formal protocol.

Maureen O’Connor, director of public policy and administrative director of the trauma program at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, also expresses optimism that momentum is building behind the movement.

“I’ve found our legislators to be very open about learning more about concussion,” she says, echoing the importance of education. “People just don’t know about it and they don’t understand the lasting effects, or that the symptoms are sometimes very subtle.”

Accordingly, Klimo and others are mulling a dedicated concussion clinic, something that could be as simple as a dedicated phone line for parents, trainers or coaches to call in the event of a suspected injury.

Of course, there are other issues concerning young athletes outside of concussion, and still more local efforts to address them.

A Campbell Foundation study to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons focuses on sports-related lower-back injuries among pediatric patients. Other Campbell research includes efforts to identify at-risk athletes to preempt injury, as well as a reconstructive surgery technique designed for patients who are still growing.

The foundation, which is affiliated with Campbell Clinic, also has developed “canned talks,” as Azar refers to them, for local coaches. The talks are educational in nature and focus on injury prevention — a common thread in nearly all advocacy efforts.

The educational component, while not as sexy as the tour de force research published in late 2012 from Boston University that found more evidence of links between head trauma and long-term, degenerative brain disease, could be the most simple and effective way to mitigate sports-related injury.

“I recognize the risk for injury will never be zero, and as athletes get bigger, faster and stronger, there will inevitably be concussions and mild head injuries,” Klimo says. “But if the coaches can prepare these kids by teaching them how to properly tackle or use equipment properly, then you can minimize or reduce the number of at-risk activities.”